


Faith

by Talvi (inn_havi)



Series: Stories of Thedas [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28531062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inn_havi/pseuds/Talvi
Summary: Stories of Thedas writing challenge day 3/31
Series: Stories of Thedas [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086773
Kudos: 7





	Faith

**Author's Note:**

> Stories of Thedas writing challenge day 3/31

“Bless upon these souls, children, who are to face the challenge that is their Harrowing,” the mother of the Circle tower of Ostwick guided the mix of apprentices and mages in praying for the souls who stood at the front of the prayer hall. The young adults, still technically teenagers, were hoping for the light of The Maker to shine on them and allow them to pass their Harrowing.

Juliette, aged 18 and now officially a mage, sat next to her friend Theodore in the pew at the furthest point in the back of the hall. They looked towards the left at Tully who stood still with the three other apprentices up front. She looked calm and, although impatient, rather elegant. She would look good in the white and orange robes the mages wore, Juliette thought. She would look good in anything, but the dull purple and blue apprentice uniforms dragged against her bright personality.

“That’ll be you in a couple of weeks,” Juliette whispered quietly to Theodore.

“I don’t need The Maker to do well in my Harrowing, and neither does she.” Theodore replied in a voice that struggled not to crack under his hushed tone as he whispered in her ear.

“I know, I know.” Juliette smiled softly at her friend without breaking eye contact from his sister up front. “But soon we’ll all be mages together.”

“I’ll thank The Maker for that,” Theodore scoffed, his dark hooded eyes studying his twin sister’s increasingly bored demeanor.

“Quiet, you two.” A Templar Lieutenant quietly commanded, watching as the two instantly quieted down and straightened up in time for the closing remarks. Finally being released, the two stood outside, waiting for Tully to make her way to them through the crowd of apprentices exiting the hall.

“Maker, that took forever!” Tully exclaimed, wiping a bit of sweat from her forehead and pushing strands from her bob behind her ear. “I think I go in an hour.”

Juliette nodded, studying Tully’s cheekbones that became more apparent after the removal of hair hiding them from the world. “They made me wait on the fourth floor with the Senior Enchanters. Then they’ll take you one-by-one to the Harrowing room.”

“Any advice?” Tully asked, walking with her brother on her left, her best friend on her right.

With a small shake of the head, Juliette responded in her normal calm and quiet voice. “I can’t say anything else. But you’ll be okay.” She gave a gentle smile, now feeling the need to push her red hair behind her own ear out of nervousness. The freckles on her cheeks were more apparent as they walked outside under guard, Tully smiling down at her friend. “I did okay, after all.”

“Jewels, you’re literally the best student here,” Tully smiled, the group making their way to their normal spot under am oak tree in the Circle courtyard.

“Yeah, but even by comparison your herbology marks were still bad,” Theodore teased lightly, groaning at a punch to the arm. “Brute.”

“Come on guys…” Juliette smiled a little as Tully stuck out her tongue at her brother.

“Theodore Bauer!” An Enchanter called from the main door, surveying the field from where he stood.

“Why is Enchanter Blay calling for you? Did you forget something in his classroom?” Juliette asked, looking at the boy.

“Shit, probably. I’ll be right back.” He got up quickly and waved at the two girls before taking off through the small area of walled-in grass and making his way into the building with the Enchanter. He noticed, when entering the building, that the clear sky was quickly turning grey and his mind went to thinking of if the girls were going to be easy to find if they went inside.

The two girls sat in silence for a moment, Juliette’s mind pondering various topics to speak about. An hour before the Harrowing. There’s apprentices who don’t make it out. Either they die or they become Tranquil. Not that she thought that Tully would meet that fate, but she couldn’t help but still be apprehensive about the upcoming event. So what was she supposed to talk about that wasn’t about any of those negative outcomes?

Perhaps comment on how her hair looked? How calm, cool, and collected she seemed to be despite the big event coming up? How nice it was to just sit with her and cherish being there? Or-

“Do I have something on me?” Tully interrupted Juliette’s string of thoughts, scratching at her cheek with her nail. “You keep staring.”

“What? Oh, um.” Juliette became flushed at being caught staring, faking that there was something on her and wiping it away with her thumb really quickly. “Sorry. I meant to say something…”

“You always are lost in thought,” Tully laughed a little. They fell silent again for a moment, Juliette messing with a blade of grass by her knee while Tully looked up at the now fully grey and darkening sky. “Oh!” She gasped in a bit of surprise at the feeling of a raindrop falling between the leaves of the tree above them just to tap her on her head. “We should go inside, I don’t wanna get wet.”

“Is it raining?” Juliette asked, instantly feeling a couple of light taps on her own head, and followed Tully’s movements in standing, the pair quickly making their way back inside as other apprentices and mages began to follow. “It was just sunny a moment ago though...” She commented, seeing how quickly the rain began to move in. She was pulled down the hall by Tully taking her wrist, the two being stopped by the Senior Enchanter Logan and two templars.

“Tully Bauer,” the Senior Enchanter spoke with a smile. “It’s time to come along for your Harrowing. Hug or do what you need with young Juliette here and then come with me.”

“Can she wait for Theodore to come back?” Juliette asked rather meekly. She was close with Senior Enchanter Logan, but she was always nervous with the higher-ups within the Circle-especially with the cold and mean new Templars lining every room glaring at every other soul around them. “He left with Enchanter Blay not too long ago…”

“Listen to your Senior Enchanter, Mage,” a brunette Templar ordered, the girl swallowing and meekly looking at the ground.

“Please,” Logan held a hand up towards the Templar behind him. “She speaks with good intentions.” He turned his attention back to the two girls, Tully looking at them with a stone-face look that stood strong against that of the Templars, and Juliette peering through her fallen bangs. “Theodore will be here when she’s finished. Stay together and we’ll come find you afterwards to congratulate her.”

Juliette looked up at Tully who finally looked down at her with the softest smile she could manage. “It’s fine, Jewels,” she assured her friend. “I’ll see you soon.” The two fully turned to each other and gave each other a tight hug before pulling back and taking the other’s pinkies, rubbing their noses on their thumbs with a giggle.

The sound of the other Templar present sighing caused the girls to drop their hands, Juliette wishing Tully good luck as the brunette saluted to her and walked backwards towards the group to lead her on her way. She would be fine, most definitely. She would meet up with Theodore when he got back and they would wait in the library. It would take maybe a couple of hours… Or three… Or maybe the clock was wrong and the ticks were timed incorrectly. Maybe Theodore’s pacing around was causing Juliette to lose track of time.

_ Crack! _ Juliette jolted in surprise at a bolt of lightning flooded the darkening library with a bright white light, thunder practically cracking the sky. The rain wasn’t just landing on the windows, no longer pelting the outside walls, but were practically making attempts to enter the building with how hard they were coming into contact with the world below the sky.

“It shouldn’t be taking this long…” Theodore grumbled with his arms crossed, giving another pace around the section in the library they waited in. “Yours didn’t take this long, so why are we still waiting?”

“Maybe they don’t know we’re in the library?” Juliette suggested, trying to ignore the worrying tug at her gut. “I can step into the hall and see if they’re looking for us…”

“No, Senior Enchanter Logan knows that this is where we always are together when we’re inside.” Theodore stopped and shook his head, scratching at the back of his neck. A normal habit of his when he became anxious.

“Maybe I can-”

“No, Juliette! Something’s not right!” He snapped at her, eyebrows furrowed. His look was more than enough to make Juliette’s heart race with a bit of fear, as though he was going to rip into her if he didn’t have the self control.

“Hey! Quiet down over there!” A Templar from across the room ordered. He glared at Theodore who gave him a hardened look, then looked towards Juliette. “If you’re going to spend time with the apprentices then keep them in check.”

“Oh, that’s it.” Theodore turned to the armored man, Juliette rising to stop him the moment that the doors to the library opened, the squeaks of the large doors echoing against the stone walls.

“Theodore and Juliette.” It was Senior Enchanter Logan’s voice. Finally!

Juliette pulled for Theodore to quickly come along, trying to get him out of sight of the Templar and to the Senior Enchanter. “Senior Enchanter Logan!” She greeted as Theodore yanked his arm away from her. He still had an attitude, be he was calmer now. “Is Tully done? Can we see her now?” She took note of the older man’s facial expression, the tired expression in his eyes, how the circles under them seemed deeper than before, and the wrinkles in his face set in the expression of concern. “Senior Enchanter?”

“I…” He looked over the two, having not decided how the news was going to be broken. Either one could lash out due to anger. They needed to be somewhere they couldn’t hurt the others.

“Where is she?” Theodore demanded, stepping forward with an angry expression. “Where’s my sister?”

Logan stood for a second longer before beckoning for the two to follow him. This time, there were six Templar guards following them, all demanding that the two be silent after any attempt at questioning Tully’s whereabouts were tried. So, aside from the mix of armor clunking up the flights of stairs and the fabric of the Circle member shoes against the stone floor, the large group moved in absolute silence to the top floor outside of the Harrowing chamber.

“Is she in there?” Theodore asked, finally no longer being met with the demands of pure silence.

“No, she is currently in my office with other Enchanters,” Logan responded honestly. “We need to discuss something with you two, but we’re going to do so in the chamber.” He knew that neither of them would understand initially, although Juliette seemed to have a better understanding of what was going on than Theodore.

“Why?” The boy asked, looking at his friend beside him. He could see the fear in her face, as if she knew what was happening. “Do you know what’s going on?”

“What?” Juliette looked at him, shaking her head. “No, I don’t…”

“Come, please.” Logan had the two escorted inside by the Templars before he followed. “Theodore, we normally don’t allow any Apprentices in this chamber before their Harrowing. So allow me the chance to warn you now that if you tell anybody else about being here, or what happened in here, we will be forced to take matters into our own hands.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” He asked in a condescending tone, finally noticing another six mages in the room standing with the Templars. “What the hell are you about to do to us?” His tone of voice was becoming harder, the volume louder. “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER?!”

“Theodore!” Juliette raised her voice, trying to get him to calm down at least a little bit lest he do something he would regret. “Let him speak.” Her gaze was firm as their eyes met, the boy realizing that what he had just heard was the loudest level he had ever heard her voice at.

Very well then. Without lessening his alertness, he stood straight with his arms crossed, waiting for an explanation.

“Thank you, Juliette.” Logan nodded towards her. “You were brought in here because we’re afraid that your reactions may be… out of your control.” While the words were meant to sound as if they were for both Juliette and Theodore, Logan’s gaze was directed at the apprentice. Before any comments could be brought up, the Senior Enchanter continued on. “Tully began her Harrowing as expected, and was doing fine… Until she came out of the lyrium spell too quickly…”

Juliette’s heart dropped, the girl beginning to shake. “I was asleep for hours after I initially woke up…”

“Yes, as you remember.” Logan nodded at her, then continued on as professionally as the old man could manage. “Being under that much lyrium and going through the Harrowing is a lot on the mind and body. You wake up when you finish, but require more rest. We simply test that you’ve remained… un-inhabited before allowing you to rest.”

“What’re you getting at?” Theodore was growing impatient, beginning to seethe at the fact that he was participating in this strung-out explanation.

“My dear boy,” Logan turned his attention towards him more so than to Juliette. “Your sister was possessed during her Harrowing. She’s been made Tranquil.” He could hear a gasp from Juliette, the steady gaze between himself and Theodore strengthening as the apprentice’s hands balled into fists, his body trembling with pure anger.

“Say that again.” He ordered between barred teeth. When met with silence, he raised his voice at the man: “SAY THAT AGAIN!” The air sparked around him, little flicks of light moving around as his anger began to get the best of him.

“Restrain him!” A Mage ordered, the full group moving to put spells on the boy to keep his magic in a barrier in order to get closer to him.

Juliette couldn’t even get herself to move, tears swelling in her eyes and her body growing weak. The Senior Enchanter moved her aside as Theodore was finally forced down, the boy yelling and cussing between sobs. “You knew!” He yelled at Juliette. “You knew they would do this!”

No response. Juliette just shook, taking the initiative to lower herself to sit on her knees, hands on the floor. This wasn’t real. This wasn’t happening. It shouldn’t have been happening and it couldn’t have been. It wasn’t. She wanted to cry. Sob. Maybe she already was and she was so numb she just couldn’t tell.

“Scream and let it out if you must, child.” Senior Enchanter Logan stepped back to give her space, allowing her to give the loudest and most blood-curdling scream to ever leave her body, the loss of focus allowing flames to shoot around her before she regained enough composure to stop them and allow herself to hang her head and sob.

But even after all of that, they couldn’t see Tully. Not for a few days until they had finally processed the news enough to not be put into pure shock at the sight of her. Juliette, normally quiet and introverted, was even more so and couldn’t hold a conversation with any of her peers. Theodore finally stopped cussing at every Templar that was present when the news was broken, or glaring at the Mages who had to restrain him to keep him from hurting anybody. As far as he was concerned, they would make him tranquil just for the sake of being a danger.

Some kind of bribing must have taken place, because Theodore was allowed to complete his Harrowing, and passed without issue. Being a Mage meant that he had regular access to the commons with Juliette, not that they talked much now. They still spent their free time together, but it was always in pure silence. No conversations, no jokes, nothing to pass the time than sitting in pure silence and barely acknowledging the others around them.

So when did they finally get to see Tully again? She was stationed to keep inventory check for the robes on the Senior Enchanters’ floor, and was visited by the two together. She didn’t smile or show emotion, nor did her once sarcastic and bright voice show a sign of her personality. She was dim, blank, a shell. Despite himself, Theodore knelt to the ground, holding onto his sister’s skirt and allowed tears to roll down his face. Juliette? She looked at the mark on Tully’s forehead, the blank stare in her eyes, and wondered why she never said any of those thoughts the day that she was to go to her Harrowing. How beautiful she was, how she loved her laugh and wanted to hear it forever.

She didn’t know why she didn’t say any of those things to her. The only thoughts that crossed her mind now were how The Maker wouldn’t truly allow this to happen. If this could happen, there was no Maker to believe in.


End file.
